Datacenters with several servers or computers having variable workloads may wish to consolidate workloads by transferring a workload from one machine (the migrating machine) to a second machine (the destination machine) having a preexisting workload. The decision to consolidate the workloads onto the destination machine may be based upon any number of reasons, including for example, a desire to save power, relocate the workload to an area in the datacenter offering better cooling or ventilation, a desire to move the workload from an under utilized machine to a more utilized machine, to reduce cost on leased hardware, or to reduce cost on licensed software.
When consolidating workloads onto a destination machine, it is difficult to predict the impact in the quality of service (QOS) on the computer or server receiving the additional workload. Current methods for determining workload transference simply “add-up” the resources (e.g., CPU, Memory, and IO) demanded by the resources used between the target and migrating machines. Such approach however does not account for conflicts that can arise that would prevent the new and existing workloads from working well together on a single machine. Interferences often arise at some level between the additional and existing workloads that cannot be accounted for by the current additive methods for evaluating workload transference. As such, the QOS is compromised and the workload is typically transferred back from the destination machine to the migrating machine, incurring both costs and time as a result to the datacenter.